A settlement that ends more than a month of negotiations between the Commonwealth of Virginia Attorney’s office and The Breeze, student newspaper at James Madison U. was reached Monday.

As part of the settlement, Marsha Garst, the Commonwealth’s Attorney, issued a statement today expressing regret for the “fear and concern that I caused The Breeze and its staff,” when she and other law enforcement officials executed a warrant and seized 962 photos from The Breeze on April 16th. Garst’s statement also promised to use a subpoena, not a search warrant, in any future requests for evidence from a news organization unless there was an “imminent need to prevent the loss of life or the threat of bodily injury.”

According to the terms of the settlement, 20 photos of the April 10 Springfest riot have been released to the Commonwealth Attorney’s office. The remaining 942 photos initially seized will be returned to The Breeze and not released to authorities. The Breeze argued that the original seizure of the photographs violated a federal statute that prohibits law enforcement officials from using a warrant to take newsgathering materials from a newsroom except in very limited circumstances.

Garst also agreed to pay $10,000 of The Breeze’s legal fees, intended to “resolve any monetary payment . . . including compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees and costs.”

The dispute over the photos began when Garst executed a search warrant on The Breeze offices April 16 and copied 962 photos from The Breeze server, 600-some which were from the Springfest party and riot on April 10.

That weekend, with the help of the Student Press Law Center, an advocacy organization for student journalists, The Breeze engaged a Washington, D.C. law firm, and Garst returned the seized photos to Breeze faculty adviser Roger Soenksen.

The Breeze’s Editor-in-Chief Katie Thisdell said she was satisfied with the settlement.

“I’m pleased we were able to reach this settlement with the Commonwealth’s Attorney, and that they’ve expressed regret and have pledged not to pursue information without a subpoena,” Thisdell said.

A subpoena, unlike a search warrant, gives the receiving party enough time to legally dispute turning over evidence.

During the negotiations, the requests for photos were narrowed down to match specific incidents.

Thisdell said The Breeze turned over the 20 photographs because Commonwealth’s Attorney showed that she had exhausted all other sources and The Breeze’s photographs were the only sources of some information from Springfest.

Brad Jenkins, general manager of The Breeze, said he thought the settlement came out in the newspaper’s favor.

“I’m pleased [Garst] has committed not to use a search warrant on a newsroom, unless it falls in the parameters to use one,” Jenkins said. “I think it’s a good thing that Katie [Thisdell] could basically go from having them take 900 photos, to coming to an agreement where they only could take the photos they have no evidence for.”

The Breeze opted to settle the issue informally instead of pursuing formal litigation against the Commonwealth Attorney’s office, which would have been more expensive and time-consuming, and may have ended in an order requiring it to turn over all or many more of the confiscated photos.

The court might well have “ruled we would have to turn over those photos and many more,” Jenkins said. “We felt comfortable cooperating with the Commonwealth Attorney because she had exhausted all other avenues of evidence.”

The Breeze had argued it was not required to give up all the photos because of the qualified journalist’s privilege, which guards a journalist’s materials from being used in a criminal investigation unless there is no other source.

“In Virginia there’s a qualified [journalist’s] privilege, which you overcome by demonstrating what you are seeking is essential and you can’t get it any other way,” said Seth Berlin, The Breeze’s lawyer.

According to the settlement, Garst narrowed her May 3 request down to photographs of eight specific incidents during Springfest.

“We were able to get the Commonwealth’s Attorney to narrow down her target from every photo to only a few,” Berlin said. “The Breeze decided to turn them over because a subpoena might have led to possibly more photos having to be turned over.”

On April 10, an annual off-campus party, which in the past had only attracted a few thousand, had over 8,000 people attend. The party escalated when partygoers began throwing beer bottles and harassing police officers.

Virginia State police officers, assisted by Alcoholic Beverage Control agents, Harrisonburg police and other local agencies, acted to regain control of the situation. Police used riot gear, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

Numerous arrests were made during the event and later as a result of photos and videos posted online.

During the weekend following the seizure of the photographs The Breeze received legal counsel, and Garst returned the sealed photos to Breeze faculty adviser Roger Soenksen.

Soenksen remained in possession of the photos until the settlement over the disputed incident was reached.

Many exceptional athletes leave U. Illinois and move on to a life of professional competition. Some move on to normal careers having nothing to do with sports. Others become coaches of the sport they competed in for so many years.

“You invest so much in yourself, in your program, in your school that it’s sometimes really hard to leave behind,” said Stephanie Wagemann, current assistant women’s golf coach, who was on the team from 2004-2008. “But luckily not everyone has to leave that behind.”

Like Wagemann, there are many athletes from Illinois who moved on to become coaches at their Alma Mater. Tonja Buford-Bailey, the head women’s track coach; Katie O’Connell, assistant women’s softball coach; Mike Small, head men’s golf coach; and Justin Spring, men’s gymnastics associate head coach are just a few, said Assistant Athletic Director Kent Brown. He said that countless former athletes are coaches at other universities and high schools.

“Champaign is just a great town and a great place to live your life,” said Spring, who has already bought his second house in Champaign. Spring had a fast-paced career as a gymnast at Illinois, landing on the bronze-medal winning team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He originally started coaching as a way to continue his own training, but when he became associate head coach, he knew it was time to retire.

“I will miss the thrill of competing, but it is a different type of feeling living through your athletes,” Spring said. “I never got very emotional when I won everything, but when Paul (Ruggeri) and Tyler (Mizoguchi) made the national team, I started tearing up because I knew this was their lifelong dream and I helped them fulfill it.”

Coaches also say the transition is hard because of the lack of control over the outcome.

“You just have to sit there and watch, you can’t do anything about it,” O’Connell said. “You can yell and point as much as you want but there is nothing you can do to change the situation.”

O’Connell enjoys being a coach at Illinois because she feels it gives her an added advantage coaching at her Alma Mater.

“I am familiar with the program and with (head coach Terri Sullivan),” O’Connell said. “It gives me an edge knowing what’s going on and how to handle specific situations.”

“It also helps that I haven’t had much time away from being a player because I am able to communicate things with the players in a way that they would understand.”

For Wagemann and Spring, they began coaching so quickly after college that they ended up coaching people with whom they used to be teammates.

“At first, it was a little hard to establish myself,” Spring said. “But eventually, I made it clear, ‘Yes, I used to be your friend, yes I still want to be your friend, but it’s different now.’”

Wagemann said that being a coach is different, but it is the closest many athletes could get to staying connected to their sport and their school.

“By being a coach, you never have to stop being around the game,” Wagemann said. “And that’s what makes it the most exciting.”

A single hair can tell us about a species’ past, future and how science could help prevent its extinction.

This was the point made by Maria Kretzmann, a Glendale College biology instructor, at the May 25 science lecture, “The Use of Molecular Tools in Conservation Biology.”

Kretzmann lectured on the advantages that molecular tools offer by providing scientists with information about the DNA and genetic makeup of living organisms.
Molecular biology is the study of the structure, function and makeup of important molecules such as DNA, RNA and proteins.

Partnered with existing methods of animal conservation and the protection of endangered species, molecular biology offers scientists a detailed view into what drives a species to extinction and how it can be prevented.

There are five key components in which scientists use molecular biology to aid endangered species.

The first, functional diversity, analyzes ecological interactions such as among species. “Tasmanian Devil populations have dropped a staggering 70 percent since 1996 because a form of contagious cancer has spread throughout the population,” Kretzmann said.

After analyzing the genetic makeup of afflicted Tasmanian Devils and comparing it to individuals who are immune to it, scientists have been able to discover that the animals with higher genetic variation are, in most cases, the ones that display an immunity to the cancer.

The genetic variations are present in the major histocompatibility complex which is a gene-dense region of the mammalian genome that plays an important role in the immune system and autoimmunity.

The second, population structure, provides insights into evolutionary processes and helps identify groups of individuals by their genetic makeup. A common practice in wildlife conservation is the use of tracking devices to follow migration patterns and analyze population sizes. Molecular biology adds an insightful layer to this practice by taking genetic samples from monitored individuals to create a form of genetic tracking for certain species.

One of the drawbacks of migration tracking when analyzing population structures for wildlife conservation is that it merely demonstrates the movement of species but does not reveal whether a species is reproducing and at what rate.

“Just because they move does not mean they are breeding,” said Kretzmann. By genetically tracking individuals, scientists can determine breeding patterns by the amount of variation in the genetic makeup of individuals. The presence of higher variation levels suggest that individuals are mating outside circles of inbreeding and therefor achieving a diverse genetic makeup that could benefit the species as these variations make them more resistant to environmental changes and disease.

The third, forensic identification, is used in identifying specific individuals by breaking down their genetic makeup.

Advancements in this area have prompted scientists to create the “Bar-code of Life” which aims to develop a mechanism capable of generating a unique genetic bar-code for every species of life on earth.

Meanwhile, with the help molecular tools scientists were able to uncover the Japanese whaling scandal. After analyzing meat samples taken from a bush meat market in Japan, with the help of forensic identification, scientist were able to discover that the meat being sold was Blue Whale along with other rare whale species. This violated the 1986 IWC moratorium that condones whale hunting for scientific but not for commercial purposes.

The fourth, kinship, uses molecular tools to analyze the individuals in captive mating programs in order to maximize genetic diversity and avoid inbreeding.

To ensure the survival of their offspring female chimpanzees mate promiscuously to trick male chimps into believing they are the fathers of the newborns. Scientists then compare the DNA of the infant and the mother with possible fathers to determine if a dominant male is fathering most of the offspring.

“If this is the case the dominant male is either castrated or relocated in order to allow for different males to mate and provide the Chimpanzee population with a higher genetic variation,” Kretzmann added. With a higher variation these chimps can better adapt to changing environments and built a stronger immune system.

The fifth, hybridization, examines the process of combining different varieties of species and organisms to create a hybrid. With the use of molecular tools scientists have been able to identify certain species such as the red wolf, a cross between a gray wolf and coyote, as hybrids. Population numbers for the Florida panther were so low that in order to promote a large, healthy and genetically diverse group a slightly different kind of panther was introduced from Texas to mate with Florida panthers to create a hybrid animal in order to save the species from extinction.

While inbreeding may be counter beneficial to a population in the long run, breeding species that are too genetically different has a major drawback, outbreeding depression. This occurs when offspring from crosses between different populations have lower fitness than offspring from crosses between the same population.

“I had no idea of the extremes scientists go to in order to save animal species,” said student Michelle Acuña.

The work that is being done behind the scenes by genetic scientists in the conservation of endangered species often goes unnoticed by the general public. However, after a highly informative lecture, Kretzmann was able to convey the challenges and wonders of the use of molecular tools in conservation biology.

President Obama always seems to hide from the public eye at times when he should be attacking issues head-on. The past two months have exposed some significant faults in the way Obama handles the most pressing concerns of the day.

First, there was the Arizona Immigration Bill. Faced with Arizona’s abrupt illegal immigration reform, the Obama Administration immediately jumped to the side of minority special interest groups (his political allies) and condemned Arizona for overstepping its bounds. According to CBS News, the president denounced the bill as “misguided” and “poorly conceived,” but failed to produce any alternatives for border enforcement.

Whether the bill is the best approach to this issue is irrelevant. Arizona’s decision represents a call for action on an issue that has been sidestepped by this administration and others. Attorney General Eric Holder questioned its constitutionality, only to be humiliated by his own lack of knowledge about the issue, and has since taken no further action to defeat it. The current administration attempted to gain public opinion by manipulating this sudden action to its favor, and it ultimately backfired. Instead of tightening our border security from the beginning, Obama dithered around and frustrated border states by his prolonged inaction.

And for those who oppose any form of border enforcement, I bring you Exhibit B — the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf. Numerous times, the Obama administration argued they addressed the Gulf Oil Spill from “day one.” In reality, Obama did not take the situation seriously until word got out about the severity of these damages (about a week later). Of course, he was far too busy entertaining the Yankees at the White House to be concerned with the welfare of the environment and residents of the Gulf region.

When Obama finally held a press conference on May 27 to address this devastating crisis, he told America he was “not going to rest … or be satisfied until the leak is stopped at its source, the oil on the gulf is contained and cleaned up, and the people of this region are able to go back to their lives and their livelihoods.”

These are some powerful words from our commander-in-chief — if only they were true. As the oil started making its way to the shore, Obama’s “superhero” image gradually puttered out and revealed a reversion back to politics as usual.

As Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said, “I think there could have been a greater sense of urgency.”

According to Jindal, one of the affected coastal regions only received half of the booms he requested, and deployment of this protective tool was significantly delayed due to bureaucratic intervention (as reported on ABC News). Likewise, according to the New York Times, Jindal was given federal approval for one sand barrier to protect the shore after state officials requested 24.

Jindal is not the only one complaining. Some of Obama’s top supporters — Democratic strategist James Carville and former Secretary of State Colin Powell — have criticized the administration for not utilizing all of its resources to contain the spill and limit the damages. We have seen the images of the Louisiana wetlands smothered in oil and the petroleum-coated sea life washing ashore. All of this could have been prevented if the gulf states were given the proper tools to defend the coast.

After hearing the voices of national criticism for his lack of involvement in this crisis, Obama has since said he takes “responsibility for solving this crisis” and has pledged to the Gulf region that they “will not be abandoned.” His proposals for action come too late, as the oil has already reached the shore, and left its mark on the Gulf Coast. At this point, the only thing the president can do is to try and salvage the rest of the coast. The rest is up to BP.

Obama needs to learn his lesson from these two unprecedented events. Immediate action does not simply mean holding a press conference after the fact. The president always has access to the latest information, and should be the first to take action. During times of crisis, the states need a helping hand.

As California students, we are all too familiar with the government’s tendency to delay action on important issues until it’s too late. Election seasons bring waves of promises to hopeful Californians, and yet the budget remains unbalanced, our education system gradually worsens and our potential employers continue to flee the state. Our leaders need to grow spines and re-prioritize.

Empty words of reassurance never quite make up for lost time.

Searching for a new recipe has become a lot easier in the age of technology.

Today, home cooks rarely dig through tattered recipe boxes or flip the glossy pages of Food and Wine issue when it’s easier to click a few keys on the laptop and discover a whole new culinary world.

In his article “Laptop Chef” in the March issue of Dwell, Jonathan Olivares argued that kitchen computers helpfully multi-task our cooking lives and will soon become a necessary staple, like salt and sugar.

Kitchens have become the home’s social hub, explained Olivares, and “computers support every facet of our daily lives,” so it’s only natural that kitchen computers will be the next cooking trend.

“Online cookbooks replace their printed ancestors; video conferencing with family and friends reinforces and enhances social nature of the space; music software eliminates the need for audio players; and web browsers provide access to information and entertainment,” Olivares continued.

The problem is most laptops aren’t kitchen-proof. Imagine following a stir-fry recipe on your laptop. One clumsy move and it’s the keyboard that could be fried in garlic sauce.

While we’re waiting for the spill-proof laptop, there are many food-oriented websites and blogs worth bookmarking. Let’s not forget the utility of Smartphones too, with their countless food apps. And I don’t know about you, but I find it much safer to cook with my iPhone in arm’s reach.

Here are just a few of my favorite digital cooking and/or food references.

Websites

Food News Journal (foodnewsjournal.com): This site provides all the food-related news you can stomach each weekday. It compiles the daily food-news articles from reputable newspapers, magazines and journals and organizes them into an easy-reading format.

Epicurious (epicurious.com) is my go-to recipe finder. Partnered with Bon Appetit and Gourmet this website is a home cook’s paradise with recipes ranging from easy to very difficult. The user key and fellow cooks’ comments help one find (and perhaps modify) that perfect dish.

Blogs

Live to Cook … At Home (livetocookathome.come) In the same vein as The Julie/Julia Project, home cook Dave Whittaker is cooking and eating his way through celebrity chef Michael Symon’s cookbook “Live to Cook.” Humorous, passionate and honest, Whittaker’s blog offers the everyday home cook’s reaction to Symon’s sometimes ambitious recipes.

The Everyday Palate (everydaypalate.blogspot.com) I’m not above shameless self-promotion. My blog recounts my cooking adventures and reflects on how food shapes our daily lives. I like it quite a bit, but then again, I’m biased.

Apps

Ratio Smart Phone App: Based on Michael Ruhlman’s “Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking” This handy app creates recipes — using ratios — for the portion size a user needs. No math skills necessary. Two other bonuses: users can save and share their recipes on Twitter or Facebook. According to the Chicagoist, “This application is so good it almost makes us regret buying the book first.” In my own experience, I concur; the app has been much more useful than the book.

Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals: Known for his healthy-school-lunches-for-American-kids crusade on the television show “Jamie’s Food Revolution,” British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver devised a fantastic app that allows users to choose a quick, healthy recipe, create a shopping list for its ingredients, and view a step-by-step video demonstration. “Cool Hunting” named it “the best cooking app we’ve come across yet.” And I whole-heartedly agree.

The White House recently released President Obama’s 2010 National Security Strategy, which largely focuses on our country’s view of the needs in the Middle East. In the section “Advancing our Interests,” the document outlines the advancement of peace, security and opportunity in the region.

Although the document reaffirms the United States has an “unshakeable commitment” to the security of our “close friend,” Israel, it recognizes that we also have a commitment to the “achievement of the Palestinian people’s legitimate aspirations for statehood, opportunity, and the realization of their extraordinary potential.”

The Obama administration seems to have moved away from the strong, pro-Israel sentiments of the Bush administration to a more balanced, focused view that is also strategically sympathetic to the Palestinians.

But are President Obama’s revived Israeli-Palestinian peace talks really going to make a difference this time around?

According to the New York Times, a small fleet of cargo ships and passenger boats were carrying 10,000 tons of aid to Gaza, including food and supplies, in the hopes of providing humanitarian aid to the area. Gaza, however, has been under a military blockade enforced by Israel.

Its warnings to the convoy ignored, Israel responded by sending naval commandos to board one of the ships, which carried about 600 activists. Israeli officials say the soldiers were then attacked, with 10 soldiers wounded. It seems the convoy passengers suffered the most, though. Nine of the boat’s passengers were killed and 30 were wounded.

The New York Times reported some of the few activists released by Israel told reporters upon their arrival in Berlin that they had been on a peaceful mission, and accused the Israeli commandos as being the aggressors in the situation.

This calls the official Israeli story into question and casts more doubt that this festering rift can be mended any time soon.

Once again, nations are prompted to take sides. The Arab nation is outraged at the deaths of the activists, and understandably so. The Israeli military blockade, itself questionable, should not keep out humanitarian aid to an area ravaged by conflict.

Four of the passengers killed were Turkish citizens, the Anatolian News Agency reported, and the convoy had Turkish backing. Israel has now further alienated one of its closest supporters in the Middle East, worsening the situation. Turkey is putting pressure on both the United States and the United Nations to hold Israel accountable for the violence that occurred.

How much leeway can we give Israel in light of its constant war-like atmosphere? Too much allowance may already have been given. International outrage, most notably among the Arab community, may put an end to American-hosted peace talks and improved relations in the region. Maintaining our friendship with Israel, while holding them accountable for the country’s part in the seemingly never ending violence, may prove to be impossible for Obama, or any diplomat.

With allies changing sides and international views shifting, the balance of Israeli and Palestinian support is tipping, as well.

Wally Hickel, 90, two-time Alaska governor and controversial secretary of the Interior under President Richard Nixon, was laid to rest May 18 with his coffin standing up in his grave and facing Washington D.C. The Dustbowl Era Kansas Golden Gloves welterweight boxing champion was buried on his feet so he could, “fight for what I believe in forever,” according to his widow wife of 65 years Ermalee Hickel.

At the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, where the Hickel Family attends mass, over 1,000 mourners filled the pews and many had to stand. Some watched the funeral on a projector screen in an overflow seating room.

The May 17 funeral mass was attended by many of Alaska’s lawmakers, including Gov. Sean Parnell, Sen. Mark Begich, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Rep. Don Young and former Senator Ted Stevens.

An aide to former Gov. Sarah Palin enquired if Palin would be welcome at the funeral the day before and was told, “all are welcome.” Palin arrived at the service late and stood in the back largely unnoticed.

Hickel came to Alaska in 1940 with 37 cents in his pocket, leaving his family’s tenant farm near Claflin, Kan.

In his memoir, “Who Owns America?,” Hickel recalls growing up as the oldest boy of 10 children.

“I was milking cows when I was five years old,” Hickel writes. “I was in the field behind four head of horses and a gang plow when I was eight.”

In Alaska he washed dishes, tended bar and founded a construction company in Anchorage in 1947.  He built Anchorage’s first modern shopping centers and hundreds of houses.

After a 9.2 magnitude earthquake leveled much of downtown Anchorage in 1964, seemingly before the after shocks had stopped, Hickel announced plans to built the landmark Captain Cook Hotel, inspiring confidence in a city struggling to rebuild.

A pillar of Hickel’s legacy is his belief that natural resources on public land are common resources to be used and conserved in an “owner state,” for the benefit of the people, not large corporations. According to his long-time assistant and friend Malcolm Roberts, it was Hickel’s experience growing up on a tenant farm that lead him to so strongly believe in public ownership of resources. These principles can be seen in Article VIII of the Alaska constitution.

Hickel was a pivotal advocate for Alaska statehood, flying to Washington to lobby the U.S. Senate and President Harry S. Truman, demanding Alaska be given more than 100 million acres of state land to empower the frontier state with resources held in common.

“We would have just been a national preserve without Wally weighing in and convincing the U. S. Senate to give Alaska 103 million acres of state land,” Roberts said. “Defining 87 percent of Alaskan lands as owned by the public made the principal of the commons a reality, like it is in Australia and Canada where 80 percent of the land is owned by the public.”
Eventually, Gov. Jay Hammond used this principle of the commons to give Alaskans their share in the states natural wealth through the permanent fund dividend.

Elected governor of Alaska in 1966 as a Republican, and chosen by Nixon to serve as secretary of the Interior in 1968, Hickel surprised critics with his active defense of the environment. Four days after being sworn is as secretary of the Interior, a Union Oil platform just three miles off the coast of Santa Barbara blew out.

In “Who Owns America?” Hickel recalls jumping into action:

“It took only a few minutes in the air over the Santa Barbara channel to fill me full of the situation – the oil, the terrible mess, the justified outrage of the people of Santa Barbara. I was also outraged by what I sensed to be the bureaucratic resistance on the site to do anything positive about a crime committed against nature. Some people had worked so closely with the oil men for so many years that they simply could not conceive of a Secretary of the Interior doing anything drastic about an oil slick,” Hickel wrote.

When Hickel landed, he stretched his constitutional authority and by sheer force of character managed to shut down all oil drilling in the Santa Barbara channel including rigs operated by six different corporations, and all offshore drilling throughout the U.S. until new regulations had been written and implemented. He permitted one relief well to stop the blowout.

During his 22-month tenure, Hickel continued his fight through many rounds. He tackled a Chevron oil spill off Louisiana’s gulf coast in March 1970 and demanded that oil companies to assume unlimited liability for oil spills.

Yet, Hickel was used to being his own boss and his outspoken views left him increasingly isolated within the Nixon administration. After four students were killed by National Guard troops in the Kent State massacre, Hickel, a father of six sons — several of whom were in college, put his job on the line when he, wrote a letter to Nixon disagreeing with Nixon’s practice of openly demeaning protesters.

“Regardless of how I, or any American, might feel individually,” Hickel wrote, “we have an obligation as leaders to communicate with our youth and listen to their ideas and problems.”

The letter was leaked to the press and Hickel was fired in the first public cabinet sacking in almost 20 years.

“I’m going with an arrow in my heart and not a bullet in my back,” Hickel said in a 60 minutes television interview.

He did not pause to shake Nixon’s hand on his way out of the Oval Office after being fired, he noted in “Who Owns America?”

Hickel remained a mighty presence in Alaskan life for decades and had three failed bids for governor before winning as an independent in 1990 with 39 percent of the vote. His second term was turbulent with the state in turmoil after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Five-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser was a friend of Hickel, both characters sharing a drive to succeed. Together they enjoyed simple pleasures like camping and fishing.

“He was not just a political figure, he was a seer of things and a wise man. He could boil pretty complex situations down to a few words and pass them on and say that’s what you look for, people who look you in the eye with an open face and an open mind.” Buser said, “Lessons like that are longer lasting than ‘you gotta vote for this.’”

In his eulogy for his father, Jack Hickel defended his father’s big dreams, saying of his longtime advocacy for a railroad tunnel from Alaska to Russia, “that is not a false dream, you wait and see.”

Jack, Ermalee and the Hickel family laughed and wiped away tears beside Wally’s grave as he was buried standing up. His legacy lives on through his son Jack who has spent 15 years working as doctor to the destitute in Africa. Jack has been invited by the governments of Sudan other African nations to present his father’s ideas later this year on public ownership of natural resources and the commons. His father called it, “The Alaska Solution.”

Laren Poole has had a busy week. The 28-year-old San Diego native — and former U. California-San Diego student — spent last Tuesday in the Oval Office, celebrating the passage of a bill that could end the war in Uganda with President Obama. Three days later, Poole took off to Africa, where he will spend the next two weeks installing short-wave radio towers in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo — currently a volatile war zone.

Luckily for the graduating class of 2010, he’ll get back just in time for a keynote speech at UCSD’s All-Campus Graduation Celebration.

Ironically, it will be his first graduation. Poole dropped out of UCSD in 2004 to run non-profit organization Invisible Children full time. In 2003, he skipped Spring Quarter to travel to Sudan with friends Bobby Bailey and Jason Russell. After discovering hordes of children hiding from a guerilla army in Northern Uganda, the three adventurers pulled out their hi-def handycams to film “Invisible Children: The Rough Cut.”

The documentary gained international attention in 2006, shedding light on the rebel army’s practice of abducting of child soldiers. At that point, finishing his degree wasn’t exactly the top of Poole’s to-do list. Instead, he shifted his attention to promoting awareness through a successful nonprofit organization, and facilitating an end to the conflict in Northern Uganda.

“I’m kind of playing it by ear,” Poole said. “If we stop this war, then I’m going to re-evaluate where my life goes next.”

The rebels, who call themselves the Lord’s Resistance Army and advocate the overthrow of the Ugandan government, are led by guerilla fighter Joseph Kony. The army has been operating out of Northern Uganda since 1987.

In an attempt to build the army, LRA members — including children who have already been abducted and brainwashed — steal other children from their homes, force them to commit murder and convert them into soldiers. Often, the abductees’ first victims are their own parents — a strategy employed by the LRA so that the children will have no family to which they can return.

In order to avoid this fate, thousands of children swarm into less isolated cities every night, sleeping in public places with only a thin mat to protect them from the bus-station and hospital floors beneath them. When Poole, Bailey and Russell stumbled across one such scene, they began to document what they soon realized was a virtually un-talked-about issue outside of the area.

The original “Invisible Children” has since evolved into its own nonprofit organization, which has held over 5,000 (and counting) film screenings at colleges and high schools around the country. They also provide aid — like microfinance opportunities and scholarships — to help improve education and income rates in Uganda. Not bad for a boy from La Mesa who started out making skateboard videos in his backyard.

Poole said he was not expecting to return home from his 2003 Africa adventure with such a gruesome story to tell.

“I didn’t really volunteer, or anything,” Poole said. “I was just going on this crazy adventure to South Africa to shoot some kind of film — I didn’t know what. Very, very humble beginnings. When I tell people, they expect me to say that, like, I wanted to be like Mother Theresa or something. And I was far from Mother Theresa.”

Prior to his somewhat spontaneous trip to Sudan, Poole’s only journey outside the country had been a family spearfishing trip to Mexico, and the decision to head to Africa came as something of an accident. While working for Jedediah Clothing Company, Poole was commissioned to put on a promotional parade for the fashion company’s fall line. When short notice and a lack of funding got the better of Poole’s patience, he yelled at his boss — soon-to-be fellow filmmaker Russell — for assigning him to a project doomed to failure.

“I had a horrible attitude about the whole situation,” Poole said. “So, I called two weeks after and apologized about my attitude and he said, ‘Do you want to grab coffee?’ And I said ‘Sure.’ So Jason and I had coffee, and he said, ‘Oh, I’m going to Africa, if you want to come?’”

Initially, Poole refused. As the first in his family to go to college, he had only two years left before he could receive a degree in structural engineering. He knew that skipping Spring Quarter of his sophomore year to run away to Africa would not sit well with his parents — not just because it would put him behind academically, but because exploring Sudan would be no walk in the park.

“My mom told me ‘No way,’ and she started crying,” Poole said. “And my dad, who was in Vietnam, just told me, ‘No way; you’re not going to someplace like Vietnam where they hate Americans.’ From the outside, for my parents, [Africa] looks like a huge hotbed of conflict. They were really, really scared for me.”

With a tough decision on his hands, Poole said he turned to god for an answer.

“I told my mom, ‘I just need a sign from god, Mom. I need a sign from god,”’ Poole said. “A couple weeks pretty much affirmed that I wasn’t going to go, because I didn’t receive a sign from god. I just told the guys: ‘Hey, I don’t know. I’m just not going to make a decision. Unless something instrumental happens in my life, I’m not going.’”

Russell and Bailey, however, decided to take matters into their own hands. One morning, months before the intended date of departure, Poole woke up to a very literal calling.

“I got up and my car was parked outside of my house, and there’s a huge black plywood sign on my window that said ‘Go,’” Poole said. “They had broken into my car, and in there was a little envelope inside. It said: ‘This is the sign. You’d better go.’ My mom started crying immediately, because she saw my face and she knew I had made up my mind to go right there. They still haven’t told me how they broke into my car.”

The trio set off on March 20, 2003 — the same day, coincidentally, the Iraq War officially began. They intended to spend a couple months filming the effects of the civil war in Sudan, after flying into Kenya and crossing the border however they could.

However, they soon discovered that most of the Southern Sudanese people had fled across the border to Uganda — so, after a few days of filming shrubs and fighting snakes, Poole, Bailey and Russell made their way south. A woman named Jolly Okot took on the role of guide, driving them to the town of Gulu — where they first spotted hundreds of children sleeping in a bus park — and helping them befriend some of the boys there.

When Poole got back, he was 60 pounds lighter (due to a bad case of malaria) but more than ready to piece together the hours of footage he’d collected. In the end, though, it took them an entire year complete the documentary.

“I was trying to tell people about this experience, but it wasn’t doing it justice,” Poole said. “People just didn’t understand it. I didn’t blame them; it sounds like a nightmare. So then, after a year, they got to see what I’d seen and what I’d experienced. That was really important for me: for them to know why I’d changed, and why I’ve committed my life to it.”

Poole left UCSD at the end of his junior year to devote his time to Invisible Children, which aids African communities in their fight against the LRA. Since his original trip to Africa, Poole has returned over 20 times in hopes of capturing all untold stories that might remain. His current focus is on recent LRA activity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where villagers in the northeast have seen daily attacks for the past three months.

“When you flip on the news, you don’t get any kind of compelling stories from the rest of the world,” Poole said. “Hollywood doesn’t focus on it. Your everyday, average American — the only thing they hear about the rest of the world is a guilt trip asking them for money. There are some really amazing things going on, and these are really powerful stories about tragedy and people overcoming all kinds of odds. I would love to find a way for those kinds of stories to meet mainstream culture.”

A followup to “Invisible Children: The Rough Cut” is currently in the works. The feature-length film, which they hope to release within the year, will combine footage from the original excursion with new material shot at protests and return trips. It will also add a new focus on the personal development of Poole, Bailey and Russell during their travels.

In fact, Poole said his decision to accept the invitation to speak at graduation was partly inspired by the personal reflection he did while putting the film together.

“When you’re writing your own story, you kind of reflect on the decisions of the past,” Poole said. “Leaving school was one of the hardest, biggest decisions of my life, so when I was called by UCSD to come speak, it just felt right — coming back and sharing what I’ve been doing for the last seven years.”

That doesn’t mean he’s planning on completing his degree anytime soon. The structural-engineering major — chosen in part by Poole’s father, mostly for its profitability — no longer fits into his identity as a humanitarian worker. For now, he said, the war comes first.

“I know a lot of these kids are scared about getting a job, and they’re wondering, ‘What am I going to be now?’” Poole said. “We need them to create their own path. We don’t need them to go work in these huge bureaucratic institutions; we need new institutions, we need new ideas, new companies. I want to share that message of how it’s hard — I’ve been there — but ultimately, it’s more rewarding. This world needs trailblazers.”

Potential jurors in the second-degree murder trial of former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle, who shot unarmed passenger Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009, will be asked questions about their attitudes towards race relations and police officers, according to a document released today by the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The 121 questions on the juror questionnaire, which prospective jurors will fill out tomorrow, fall into several broad categories.

In addition to generic questions about personal information, occupation, family, and education, jurors will be asked about their familiarity with Oakland, BART, potential witnesses and trial participants, and the specifics of the case. Mehserle’s trial was moved to Los Angeles because of concerns that the extensive media coverage made it impossible to find a jury without preconceived notions of the case in Alameda County.

But other questions, particularly on the topics of race relations, police conduct, and guns, are likely to draw out more revealing answers.

On the issue of race relations, for example, prospective jurors will be asked whether they “have an opinion as to whether racial discrimination is a problem in Oakland” or in Los Angeles, and whether they have experienced racial discrimination or been accused of it, and whether they have ever “witnessed a police officer show discrimination toward someone.”

Mehserle is white, while Grant was black. The shooting sparked racial tension in Oakland and protests against perceived racial discrimination in the case.

Jurors will also be asked about any previous positive or negative experiences with law enforcement, and whether they have ever witnessed use of force by police officers or police misconduct.

Prospective jurors will also answer questions regarding their experience of and attitudes towards guns and Tasers — a crucial point, given that the defense is expected to argue that Mehserle accidentally drew his gun instead of his Taser.

Attorneys will have until next Tuesday, June 8, to review the questionnaires, and will then have the opportunity to question potential jurors in court. A final jury of 18, with 12 jurors and 6 alternates, is expected to be in place in time for the scheduled start of opening arguments on June 10.